


Homecoming

by Lady_in_Red



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Ficlet, Fighter Pilots, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2014-10-03
Packaged: 2018-02-19 18:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2398718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_in_Red/pseuds/Lady_in_Red
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaime has never felt comfortable among the crowds waiting for the crew of the <em>HMS Durran Godsgrief</em> to arrive home from deployment. This time he meets someone just as uncomfortable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr, written after watching _Top Gun_ and the _Veronica Mars_ movie in the same week. Naval aviators in dress whites were inspiring.

The redhead in the leather jacket stands out. She would stand out anywhere, but here with the Navy wives in their prim sundresses and cardigans, she’s a wolf among sheep. 

Jaime knows the feeling. He was the only man here the last two times Brienne returned from deployment. She’s been gone half a year, and while Brienne insisted it wouldn’t kill him to wait an extra hour for her to get off the base and come home, Jaime is fairly certain it would.

The families are penned up in a roped-off section of the dock not far from the water. Scores of uniformed personnel scurry about, carrying ropes, driving carts laden with sections of gangway, making preparations for the ship’s arrival. 

The aircraft carrier  _HMS Durran Godsgrief_ is immense, sliding into its berth at the Dragonstone shipyard slowly but inexorably. How it stops, how it moves at all, Jaime doesn’t really understand. He is waiting for the flood of blue-uniformed sailors which will spill down the gangways onto the dock. Brienne, gods bless her towering height, is never difficult to spot in a crowd. She normally frowns on excessive public displays of affection, but when Brienne comes home from a long cruise, she rushes into his arms just as eagerly as he sweeps her up. 

Jaime’s phone beeps in his pocket. 

**Brienne:** What are you wearing? 

Jaime chuckles, notices the redhead looking at him. 

**Jaime:** Naughty girl. Missed me?

**Brienne:** So much. What are you really wearing? 

**Jaime:** Red shirt. I’d paint a target on it, but you might shoot me.

**Brienne:** Never. Might tackle you though.

**Jaime:** Get down here, woman. I’ve got plans for you.

Jaime is going to kiss her soundly in front of every proper little Navy wife on the dock, and then he’s going to drive Brienne home and take off her uniform with his teeth. Or perhaps he’ll let her order him around a bit first. The uniform turns Jaime on more than he’ll ever admit. 

When Jaime looks up, the redhead is watching the ship, eyes narrowed, chewing her lip. She looks like she may bolt at any moment. 

“Does he know you’re here?” Jaime asks.

The redhead looks up sharply. “Excuse me?” She has a strong Northern accent Jaime can’t quite place.

“Your sailor. Does he know you’re waiting with the Stepford wives?” Her reaction is why Jaime generally keeps to himself at these events. As progressive as the military claims to be now, the culture is very traditional. Jaime doesn’t exactly fit in.

“No, and he’s not a sailor. He’s a pilot,” she says, a touch of pride in her voice.

Jaime knows that pride well. “Then he must fly with my wife. What’s his name?” Brienne did mention that a few of her squadmates have new girlfriends. Which one is this? 

She turns to check the carrier’s progress. “Jon Snow.”

Jaime contains a guffaw at the last moment, covering it with a cough so fake it can’t possibly fool her. This firecracker of a woman is seeing upright, uptight Jon Snow? “I know Ghost,” he says as neutrally as he can, and offers her his hand. “I’m Jaime, by the way. My wife is Brienne Tarth.”

She hides her surprise better than most. “Ygritte.” Her handshake is firm, and she finally relaxes slightly. “You’ve done this before?”

Typing a message into his phone, Jaime nods. “This is our third deployment.” Technically, they were friends during Brienne’s first deployment, lovers the second, and married the third, but that’s semantics. 

**Jaime:** Ghost’s girl is here. Ginger, surly, leather jacket, standing near me.

Without his message, Jon probably won’t get near enough to see Ygritte waiting for him. The kid has never had anyone there to meet him as far as Jaime knows. 

“Do you get used to it? The deployments?” Ygritte asks, and he can tell she’s looking for reassurance. 

Jaime watches the carrier for a moment. The  _Godsgrief_ is finally docked, gangways coming together swiftly. The crew will begin to disembark within minutes. “You get used to it. That doesn’t make the separation any easier.” He’s not going to lie to Ygritte. If she can’t deal with fifteen to twenty years of this, better that she figure it out now, before they get in too deep. Jaime keeps answering Ygritte’s questions while they wait. It passes the time, and she is pleasant enough company.

By the time Jaime spots Brienne’s fair hair above the crowd, he is certain that Ygritte won’t be around for the next homecoming. She’s head over heels for Jon Snow, gods know why, but she doesn’t seem to understand that this—flying, the Navy—is who he is. 

They’ll figure it out, or they won’t, but Jaime stops caring when his wife catches his eye. They’ve had occasional Skype dates, but her eyes are bluer in person, her smile brighter. Half a year of missing Brienne hits him all at once, and Jaime pushes through the crowd to wrap her in a fierce embrace. 

“Take me home,” Brienne whispers in his ear.

Jaime kisses her hard, pulls back to grin at her. “As my lady commands.” 

That is one order he will always follow. 


End file.
